I generally avoid temptation
by SageK
Summary: Sometimes, a little help around the house is appreciated
1. Chapter 1

After a long resistance meeting that included a conversation with Joshua, who was getting antsy up on the mother ship, and little actual news, Erica Evans rose from her seat, stretching her arms up to work the kinks out of her back. The rectory had been a far more comfortable meeting place but Hobbes was right to suggest they move. With Father Travis, a big fan of the V's, roaming around, it just wasn't secure enough.

"Well," she said, offering her three friends a nod, "Call me if anything happens. Otherwise, I plan to spend tomorrow attempting to berate my kitchen sink into working properly."

"Problem with your plumbing?" Somehow Kyle Hobbes managed to put a sarcastic twist on just about any sentence. Really, the mercenary had a gift.

Erica rolled her eyes, knowing Ryan Nichols and Jack Landry were doing the same, before she replied, "Yes and plumbers and my schedule don't seem to mix well so I'm going to use my non-existent home improvement skills to fix it myself."

"Good luck with that," Ryan said with a small, self deprecating shrug. "V weapons systems, those I can fix. Human plumbing…let's just say Val has the numbers of the plumber and electrician on speed dial, just in case."

"I could stop by and take a look," Jack offered easily. "I handle the repairs and upkeep at St. Josephine's and do odd jobs for elderly parishioners who need the help."

Relief flooded Erica's face and she offered Jack a grin. "That would be great," she said, the nodded. "Tell you what. You fix the sink and I'll make us some lunch. Deal?"

"Sounds good," Jack said, rising to leave as well. "I take the early morning masses and Father Travis does the afternoon, so I can be at your place around 10am."

"Okay," she said, choosing to ignore the somewhat loaded glances Ryan and Hobbes traded in favor of ascending the unsteady stairs that led out of their current shabby (hold the chic) headquarters with Jack. Honestly, what did they think? Jack was a priest. End of story, but it didn't mean they couldn't be friends.

She told herself that every day…sometimes more than once, especially if it was one of those days when she woke still sweaty and shaky from a dream about doing something very sinful…..

hr

True to his word, Jack was knocking on her front door just after 10 the next morning, tool box in hand. Erica swung the door open and offered him a welcoming smile. He'd obviously changed after saying mass, which made sense as his battered jeans and white t-shirt seemed more fit for chores than his usual black clothes.

"Morning, Jack," she greeted him, then glanced past him to wave to the neighbor across the street as she ushered him in.

"Good morning," he replied as she closed the door with a thump. Her neighbors tended to be on the nosy side and she wasn't in the habit of having men around since Joe had left. Dale had been a frequent guest and now occasionally Jack, Ryan and Hobbes…though Jack was the only one who had visited during daylight hours. "Made any progress by berating the sink?"

He grinned as he teased her and she retaliated by giving him a light shove and saying, "Not that I can tell," she muttered leading him into the cluttered kitchen. Normally it wasn't so messy, but she'd taken all the cleaning products out from under the sink to allow the pipes there to be accessed.

Jack made his way to the sink, setting his toolbox on the counter as he turned the faucet on. An ominous rattling shook the pipes before water sputtered out in burst before flowing as it was supposed to. To make matters worse, the water then pooled tin the sink, not draining properly.

Stopping the water, Jack peered at the sink for a moment, then turned to Erica. "Could you turn off the water?"

"Sure," she said, making her way toward the cellar door as Jack hunkered down by the sink.

By the time she got back, he had eased himself under the sink, head, arms and chest hidden from view as small creaks and clanks echoed out from whatever he was doing. She looked down at his long legs, clad in battered, work worn jeans and booted feet. His t-shirt had ridden up when he raised his arms, revealing a strip of taut tummy above the waist of his jeans, complete with an intriguing little trail of hair that began under his naval.

Satisfied that no one was around to catch her look of appraisal, she settled onto one of the kitchen stools to watch him work. She idly chopped up the cantaloupe she had set on the counter, planning to add it to a fruit salad for later.

There was a muffled grunt from under the sink and Jack said, "Whoever worked on this last made sure this…."

He trailed off Erica heard the hiss of spraying water before she saw the jet spraying out from under the sink. "Jack!" she said, startled and jumping up from her seat. To her surprise, he didn't immediately pull himself out of the jets of water, but stayed in place, doing something till the flow stopped.

Erica crouched down beside him as Jack slid out from under the sink, sinning on the floor, upper body and shirt soaked. He blinked at her and she said, "I guess I turned off the wrong valve."

Jack looked at her then wiped water from his eyes before chuckling, "I guess so. No harm done though."

With a sheepish smile, Erica said, "I guess I should go turn off the other valve…here, give me your shirt. I'll toss it in the dryer and grab you one of Tyler's."

"All right," he said with a nod then peeled the sodden cotton from his skin nonchalantly.

Erica stared for a moment at the newly bared skin, glad he was again swiping water from his face then rose. Feeling her cheeks burn, she trotted from the room and back down into the basement.

After turning off the correct valve and putting the shirt into the dryer, she ran up to Tyler's room and found a plain black T-shirt that would do. Descending the stairs, she sighed as there was a knock at the front door. Muttering to herself, she pulled open the door, plastering on a fake smile when she saw it was her nosy neighbor, Judy, from across the street.

"Hi, Erica," Judy said in a saccharine tone, peering past her into the house. "How are things?"

Great. Like she really wanted to deal with prying eyes. "Fine thanks," she replied, cocking her head to the side as she asked, "Did you need something?"

Perhaps it wasn't the most polite question, but she didn't want to encourage her to ramble. Instead of taking the very clear hint, Judy raised a pan high and stepped right around Erica to enter the house.

"I was doing some cleaning and came across this lasagna pan I borrowed from you and thought I should return it!"

Judy had borrowed the lasagna pan over two years ago and, since Erica didn't make lasagna, she'd never noticed it was missing. It was quite clear her neighbor was just being nosy. "Thanks," Erica replied trying to intercept the other woman, but damn she was fast.

"I'll just put this in the…hello!" Judy said, her scurrying feet coming to a halt as she pulled into sight of the kitchen.

Jack, still shirtless and damp, was leaning against the counter doing something with the tool and portion of pipe in his hand. Each small movement made the muscles in his chest and arms bunch and relax and both Erica and Judy stopped short and stared. He looked up from what her was doing and offered them both a smile.

"Hi," he greeted Judy, questioning eyes bouncing to Erica.

"Jack," she said, forcing the irritation she felt out of her voice. "This is my neighbor Judy. She just stopped by to return a pan."

"That's right!" Judy replied sunnily, hoisting the pan again without pausing her ogling.

Great, Erica thought. Judy had one of the biggest mouths in their neighborhood. By noon everyone would hear about the hot, half naked guy in Erica Evan's kitchen. And since Judy was obviously committing Jack's looks to memory for better use in story telling, there was a chance someone would put two and two together and realize he was the priest that had been seen visiting her.

Not exactly something she wanted to be known for. Shaking herself, she stepped toward Jack, holding out the t-shirt she had found for him. "This should fit okay," she said as he smiled greatfully. He to had noticed Judy's visual groping and was clearly uncomfortable.

Putting the pipe down, Jack accepted the shirt and tugged it over his head. It was a bit snug across the chest and shoulders but not a terrible fit.

Undeterred by the loss of skin, Judy plopped herself down on one of the chairs by the counter and said, "So Jack, how did you and Erica meet?"

Jack turned a deer in headlights look to Erica, who sighed. This was going to take some fancy story telling. Hopefully, they could come up with something that would make Judy want to leave. Soon. The sooner the better.

TBC…..

So, what do you guys think so far?


	2. Chapter 2

In the end, they had simply chosen to be vague with Judy, not specifying any relationship other than friendship and an offer to fix the sink. Getting her out of the house had not been easy, but they had been saved by Judy's daughter, who called her mother, requesting a ride to the mall for an emergency shopping trip.

After her exit, Jack had gotten back to work on the sink, cleaning out the trap and doing other, mysterious things to the pipes. Erica continued to chop fruit, observe and kept up a light flow of conversation. It was peaceful and for a moment, she could forget the threat looming over their heads, literally.

"There," Jack declared, sliding out from under the sink and smoothly pushing himself upright. "Let's see if that did the trick."

Hopping off of her chair, Erica joined him by the sink and said, "Here goes nothing…." as she reached out and turned the faucet. Water flowed smoothly and quietly and streamed down the drain without pooling in the sink. "It works!"

Jack smiled and gave a satisfied nod. "Plumbing, I understand. It's much simpler than resistance fighting."

With a grin of her own, Erica replied, "That's true, I suppose. Why don't you wash up while I get the food ready."

"Okay," he agreed reaching for the faucet again, only to have her wave him off.

"Use the bathroom," she laughed, pointing him in the right direction. "I have a few things left to prepare."

Chuckling, Jack left the room, allowing Erica to set out the plates on the table, pull the fruit salad and juice from the fridge, along with the waffle mix she'd prepared earlier. After putting coffee on, she measured out a serving of batter into the waffle iron and set it. While she waited for the timer to go off, she moved around the kitchen, straightening up.

They sat down to their meal and made pleasant conversation, Jack asking how things were going with Tyler, a topic Erica could expound on for a while. Her son was running around in an absolute funk since his Peace Ambassador girlfriend dumped him. His buddy Brandon had dragged him off earlier that morning, something about a video game release. It had to be something special to get them up and out the door before noon on a Saturday.

Jack's appreciation of the waffles made Erica smile. He dug into the meal with gusto and she laughed, "Hungry?"

He nodded, but didn't respond till he swallowed the bite in his mouth, which she appreciated. Tyler had still not learned to do that. "A bit," he replied, then pointed at his plate with his fork, "And this is really good."

Erica wasn't about to tell him tossing batter into a machine was about the limit of her culinary skills. As a general rule, cooking was not her forte, but she didn't feel the need to advertise that fact. It was just nice to have someone appreciate the effort.

"Thanks," she said happily, taking a bite of her own food.

When Tyler and Brandon suddenly came stomping into the kitchen, she jumped in surprise because she was listening to Jack's explanation of what had been wrong with the sink. She totally wasn't distracted by the bit of syrup and powdered sugar that was clinging to Jack's bottom lip. Nope, not at all.

"Mom…," Tyler began, then froze when he saw that she was not alone. "Oh…hey…I didn't know you were expecting company."

Exchanging a glance with Jack, Erica nodded, then said, "Jack came over and fixed the sink, Ty."

Tyler's face scrunched up as Jack greeted him and Erica could see the wheel's turning in the teenager's head. Then his eyes widened as he said, "Oh, right…the priest!"

Jack nodded pleasantly, but was clearly not sure how to deal with the two staring teenagers. Brandon piped up, "Um…like a Priest, priest?"

"Yes," was Jack's simple reply and Brandon squirmed and tugged Tyler's arm, galvanizing the other boy into motion.

"We're gonna play the game I got…" Tyler began, then Brandon interrupted, "At my house!"

A little confused, Tyler let Brandon haul him away and Erica exchanged an amused glance with Jack, who said, "Let me guess? His family's Catholic."

Puzzled, she said, "I think so."

He nodded as though that explained everything. "A lot of people find it odd to see a priest in jeans, especially if they're raised in the church. It makes them…uncomfortable."

Offhandedly, Erica said, "Well, I think jeans are a good look for you."

Jack's brows rose and a faintly embarrassed look crossed his face, but he simply said, "For you too…but there's something to be said for those striped shorts of yours."

Wide eyed, Erica felt her own cheeks redden as laughter spilled from her lips. How weird was her life? Here she was, sitting in her kitchen, enjoying a nice breakfast and flirting with a priest while alien ships hovered overhead.

And in that moment, she wouldn't have had it any other way.


End file.
